At Damme when the Hawthorn was in flower
Then it was that the dawn came bursting through the clouds of night, and the swallows skimmed chirruping over the fields, while the sun began to show his dazzling face on the horizon. Claes opened the window and thus addressed himself to Ulenspiegel.
“O babe born with a caul, behold! Here is my Lord the Sun who comes to make his salutation to the land of Flanders. Gaze on Him whenever you can; and if ever in after years you come to be in any doubt or difficulty, not knowing what is right to do, ask counsel of Him. He is bright and He is warm. Be sincere as that brightness, and virtuous as that warmth.”
“Claes, my good man,” said Soetkin, “you are preaching to the deaf. Come, drink, son of mine.”
And so saying, the mother offered to her new-born babe a draught from nature’s fountain.
II
While Ulenspiegel nestled close and drank his fill, all the birds in the country-side began to waken.
Claes, who was tying up sticks, regarded his wife as she gave the breast to Ulenspiegel.
“Wife,” he said, “hast made good provision of this fine milk?”